Dorm life and adjusting to Ghana
After almost 3 weeks in Ghana, I am starting to settle into life here! I arrive on July 30th, and my luggage (intact!) a few days later. I am moved into my dorm room in Volta Hall with Isis, an Anthropology / Zoology student from CSU Humbolt.
Orrientation was a blur of lectures, a visit to Kumasi where I bought some Kente cloth, and to the Castles at Cape Coast and Elmina (the location for the departure of so many slaves across the Atlantic). I am still trying to process these experiences.
This week has been the slow process of registering for classes. I will mostly be reading in the department of Geography and Resource Development (Medical Geography, Hydrology and Agricalture Land Use Theory and Practice). I am also trying to register for a course in Epidemiology, and need to visit the department of Oceanography and Fisheries to talk with an advisor there about my research and get connected to the Ghana Water Board. My desire is that it will also work out for me to take dance, but we'll see. The registration process is very different and somewhat confusing, but I am practicing patients.
Volta Hall is the only "all female" dorm on campus. Its motto is "Ladies with Style and Vision." And my first impression of the new students moving in these last few days is that definatly have style. I have been feeling very underdressed, even in a skirt and blouse, mostly because the women all seem to wear heels. I have a hard enough time walking in sandles on the combination of cemement, paving stones, gravel and dirt!
The other entertaining aspect is that the ATM (if it is working) typically only dispenses 10,000 cedi notes, the equivalent of about $1, and only up to 40 bills at a time. On a lucky day, it will be loaded with 20,000 cedi notes (the largest bill printed), but these are less useful. I have found it useful to try and stockpile the smaller bills because exact change is usually needed if you don't want to wait around for 5 or 10 minutes to get the balance.
Orrientation was a blur of lectures, a visit to Kumasi where I bought some Kente cloth, and to the Castles at Cape Coast and Elmina (the location for the departure of so many slaves across the Atlantic). I am still trying to process these experiences.
This week has been the slow process of registering for classes. I will mostly be reading in the department of Geography and Resource Development (Medical Geography, Hydrology and Agricalture Land Use Theory and Practice). I am also trying to register for a course in Epidemiology, and need to visit the department of Oceanography and Fisheries to talk with an advisor there about my research and get connected to the Ghana Water Board. My desire is that it will also work out for me to take dance, but we'll see. The registration process is very different and somewhat confusing, but I am practicing patients.
Volta Hall is the only "all female" dorm on campus. Its motto is "Ladies with Style and Vision." And my first impression of the new students moving in these last few days is that definatly have style. I have been feeling very underdressed, even in a skirt and blouse, mostly because the women all seem to wear heels. I have a hard enough time walking in sandles on the combination of cemement, paving stones, gravel and dirt!
The other entertaining aspect is that the ATM (if it is working) typically only dispenses 10,000 cedi notes, the equivalent of about $1, and only up to 40 bills at a time. On a lucky day, it will be loaded with 20,000 cedi notes (the largest bill printed), but these are less useful. I have found it useful to try and stockpile the smaller bills because exact change is usually needed if you don't want to wait around for 5 or 10 minutes to get the balance.
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